Random Personal Items

Wow the sky! The flowers!

This is at the botanical garden on campus.

Farewell to California!
Behbehs!!
Fairbanks, v2.0!

Your friendship has been an honor. I've rarely met anyone so kind, loving, giving, thoughtful, funny, courageous, adventurous, intelligent, and good.

Well, as long as I am posting pop song lyrics... here is another set that really resonates with me.

The Middle

Jimmy Eat World

Hey, don't write yourself off yet
It's only in your head you feel left out
Or looked down on
Just try your best, try everything you can
And don't you worry what they tell themselves
When you're away.

It just takes some time, little girl in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything it'll be alright

Hey, you know they're all the same
You know you're doing better on your own
So don't buy in.
Live right now
Yeah, just be yourself.
It doesn't matter if it's good enough
For someone else

It just takes some time, little girl in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything it'll be alright

Hey, don't write yourself off yet
It's only in your head you feel left out
Or looked down on
Just do your best, do everything you can.
And don't you worry what the bitter hearts, are gonna say

Hey, you know they're all the same
You know you're doing better on your own
So don't buy in.
Live right now
Yeah, just be yourself.
It doesn't matter if it's good enough
For someone else

blblblblblblkjfoaidofakofdj...!!!

Le Siiiiiigggghhhh... One day I will get my own giant hugmonster.

Can you think of anything cuter than a St. Bernard pup?

That little 'un there will be my running buddy. :)

OMG a teeny tiny little wood sprite behbeh!

So, while I was in Dongguan working on the manufacture of power meters, Rena and Dave manufactured a whole 'nuther person! Sheesh! Whenever I get proud of myself for some silly accomplishment, I have my ass handed to me by some of my more ambitious friends! ;)

Welcome to the world, Ms. Amy! May you dream big dreams, and may they all come true!

Ky and Tania made her. I was never popular when I was growing up (understatement of the year), so nowadays I find it easier to make new friends by having my current friends make them for me. :)

We got both doofi in the photo! What an honor! (I love their little frowny faces. They look very much like they disapprove of these birthday proceedings.)

I really like this picture, even though it's blurry; it contains my whole heart--Dan; the Interior of Alaska; Fall and its attendant crisp, cool air, brilliant yellow leaves, and the smell of woodsmoke; the woods; moose wandering through the yard... In moments like this, I have everything I need.

Misc photos of settling in.

*Sigh*

�Pet rats are illegal, unless they are albino white rats."

I totally understand and respect their concerns, but I don't think I'll get to have ratties then, because:

1) I won't keep a pet that I cannot get proper vet care for should the need arise (unless, of course, one shows up that needs a home, and my home is better than none, in which case all bets are off, and

2) Even if I get a bunch of "albino white rats," which would be legal pets, the general feeling toward rats is negative there, so I'd be unlikely to find a rat-knowledgeable or rat-friendly vet up there. See #1.

So. I'm going to have to get an extra-squishy dog. And I'm going to have to bookmark both Elisabeth's and Lynn's sites to ogle their photos on a regular basis. *Sigh*

"albino white rats"!! Hrrmph! What are they, rat racists?

Mr. Grumpylicious MacDoofus would like to know, just who is supposed to feed him dessert, then, if no rats will throw granola at him?

This is likely what our future dog will look like ('cept we may get an adult, depending on who's available at the shelter), so I asked the wabbits' opinion. Millie wouldn't even give me the time of day. Bunn heard me out, then went, "HOOMPF!" and hopped away, kicking his legs out behind him. Not a good sign.

I know it isn't considered intellectually lofty to take inspiration from pop lyrics heard on a Top 40 radio station, but here is my blurb all the same. The lyrics to this song are wonderful, and, if you can look past a few cliches, as good as poetry. I wasn't thrilled with the music itself the first time I heard it, but the lyrics made my skin tingle, and I couldn't stop listening; now even the odd tune has grown on me. So here is the poetry. And if you haven't heard the song, I envy you. I wonder what it'd be like to read these words without the music:

Unwritten

Natasha Bedingfield

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten...

Okay, why do so many animal lovers hate human kids? Then whine and moan and bitch about having to put up with other people's kids screaming and crying, etc. Here is a particularly horrid example:

Why does everyone have to like babies? Why do we have to put up with your crying, pooping, ugly little disease wherever we go, just because YOU decided that the world bows to you so much you needed to grace us with another miniature you? Babies yowling at the library, movie, or other quiet places (like coffee houses) irritate me. Babies hurting little animals and parents going "awwhh iz so cuteee" peeve me off. I wish I could slap you people every time you impose them on us. Thanks...OH SO MUCH, for forcing me to be around your "little angel". I am a female. I am NOT fat. I maintain a successful career (you know, the one you can't have because you have soccer practice, and vaccinations to worry about). People who have kids on the other hand: Often grotesquely fat, Often up to their elbows in debt, often "white trash" living in trailer parks with their 8 kids... I'll take my Italian designer purses, my nice house, adventurous vacations, glorious freedom, and lap dogs any day over dirty diapers. And you know what? I know all you "moms" who no longer have a life of your own, are very jealous of my freedom. :P

Anyone who makes a case "for" babies, is just a sore looser, who's jealous of all the things they can't enjoy for another 18 years.

And to Veronica, if you ever read this, I hope that the next time you stumble on one of your spike heels, your ratty lap dog leaps out of your purse and bites your nose and ruins your nose job! Little witch! And I hope you pack your ass off to the Unabomber's former cabin to live off the land in a decade or so, when all of the world's infrastructure will be being maintained and upgraded by people were--gasp--babies! within your lifetime!

So, I've crammed into the pots on my balcony:
* 1 brandywine tomato; this vine typically gets BIG; please cross your fingers for its container survival for me.
* 2 containers of romaine (some extra to appease two certain long-eared creatures I won't name)
* 1 container of spinach, although the spinach I buy from this one family is the bestest in the world, and there is really no point in growing my own, except to utilise the shady spot
* 1 container of rapini (my favoritest veggie behind broccoli!)
* The aloe is still there, of course.
* 1 pot of cilantro
* 1 pot of strawberries
* 2 pots waiting for basil, still waiting for my sprouts to be big enough to go outside.

Yay!

I'm sure that there is a way to be rich and to still retain your appreciation for the truer things in life, and you can bet that I'm working on it, but until then, if I can only have one or the other, I'm happy with my lot!

Mike has just returned from Iraq. Yay!

The other night I was walking through a dodgy area South of Market and I felt myself fall automatically into a posture and gait that were very familiar but that I hadn't felt in a long time--shoulders back; long, steady, self-assured strides; stone-cold face. I've heard this gait described perfectly in a magazine article once: "It's like you're saying, 'Fuck you... fuck you... fuck you...' with each step." I realized that I had never walked like that in the 'burbs, and then realized that maybe there were some things that were better about the South Bay after all.

Do we really have a lower rate of random street crime down here? I don't know, but I do feel that my attitude is a lot more positive. Here, when I pass someone on the street, I smile at them, and they smile back. That is a corny thing to use as an indicator, but it is compelling. It feels natural down here, while trying that back in San Francisco would probably be taken as an invitation to grab my purse and beat me up. If I saw anyone walking down Market Street with a smile on his face, I'd cut him a wide berth.

Anyway I live near downtown suburbia right now, and I walk into downtown several times a week, and not once have I caught myself shooting obscenities with my eyes. It has been a refreshing realization.

A true friend is not just someone who does nice things for you; a true friend is someone for whom you feel happy and honoured to do nice things! If you are starting to question the value of a friendship, the question to ask yourself is not whether you feel that that person will be there for you when you are in trouble. The question to ask yourself is, how would you feel to bake that person a cake for her birthday? Honoured? Thrilled to see her face light up? Or resentful that you have to do it because it feels like an obligation?

With the most valued friends, you feel in your heart that you are lucky to be able to love them! If you lose the will to do nice things for a person, chances are, it's not because you have become less of a friend; it's because THAT person has! May we always have the chance for loving service!

I ran the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt County in May, and the Rock N Roll in San Diego in June. Whoooo!

Here I am at mile 26, right before the finish line, in Humboldt! Sorry it's just the proof, but that's all I have for now. No time for a story at the mo (is that a sigh of relief I hear out there?), but MAN was it BEAUTIFUL! Oh by the way, that's Dan, the bestest running buddy in the world. He's also my best friend, in whose arms I find my daily grace.

And here we are at the finish line in San Diego. Pay no attention to that time! We finished in under three hours, I tell you! *glances furtively from side to side*

Guts, Grace, Beauty, Love, Joy, Personal Honesty, Personal Accountability

spring grass, certain ginko trees, warm clothes fresh from the dryer, fruit-flavored black teas, kitty paws, puppy paws, rattie bellies, bunny noses, the smell of rain, the wild Pacific Ocean along Highway 1, seeing the first peaches and strawberries of Summer, cool foggy mornings, warm hugs, hot showers, peanut butter m&m's, fudge bars, lug sole boots, old jeans, good books, ripe peaches, really beautiful math, really beautiful physics, finding books I want to read in used paperback, that lung-expanding feeling I get after a long run, crisp fall days, satsuma tangerines, Tater tots, fresh hot crusty bread with plenty of butter or olive oil, apples--there are few snacks as nice as apples...

products with excessive packaging, the destruction of the California monorail system, urban encroachment on wilderness areas, roadkill, people who have no self-respect and thus no respect for other creatures, people like this woman I saw on the rail the other day: "Excuse me, but can you tell me which train will take me to downtown San Francisco? I'm going to Macy's to go shopping! (all of it in an unbelievably perky voice)" arrrgh! I can't even begin to explain all the things that bother me about people like this..., people who think that people who care about things like enviromentalism and concern for other living things are (this is a direct quote) "whining liberals," children who wear make-up, photographers who think it's cute to pose children as adults, people who adopt pets without thinking to care for them, people who have kids without thinking to care for them...

1) Correlation does not equal causation.

2) An explanation is not an excuse.

1) It's better to love fully and risk being hurt, or even to know with certainty that you will be hurt, than to live only halfway.

2) It doesn't take all kinds; we just have all kinds.

3) Simple problems demand simple solutions.

4) Simple solutions are generally also elegant and beautiful.

5) Be leery of people who put extensive effort into their physical appearance, people who do not sing in the shower, and people who drink pink wine.

Airplane Jerk

Incident in the lab

New Shoes, engineer style

My garden

Very Happy Rabbits

I am conducting business with a time traveller.

Rat Convo

Oh what a tangled web we weave!

The AIDS Marathon

One word, two meanings!

An adventure at the food bank

My boobies!

The front guard

There's motor oil in the kitchen!

Rants du Jour

A failed lesson in tact

My mother encapsulated

Untitled Snippets

Eight Seasons -- Kremerata Baltica playing Piazzolla and Vivaldi
Hommage a Piazzolla -- Gidon Kremer playing Piazzolla
Bach: Solo & Double Violin Concertos -- As played by Andrew Manze and Rachel Podger, and everyone shut the hell up already, I ADORE this CD--it sounds like how honey water tastes!
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 -- As conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler (with an umlaut over the a there) (although I also have the Solti and another one I can't recall, but I love this one best).
Christine Anderson's Live Summer Session 2005 -- Live home recording of the lovely and talented Christine Anderson.
Siamese Dream -- Smashing Pumpkins
Mary Star of the Sea -- Zwan
History for Sale -- Blue October
POP! - 20 Hits -- Erasure, and yeah, don't laugh, but I still love them.
Nightbird -- Erasure
Loveboat -- Erasure
Erasure -- Who else? Erasure
Serenade for strings -- as performed by Vienna Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Philippe Entremont
Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits -- Who else? Def Leppard

Doctors without Borders (Medicins sans Frontières)
Care International
Project Open Hand
In Memory of Magic
The Humane Society of the United States

My favorite quotes. Find the meaning of life, eh?

Hardy Visits Ramanujan

Hardy used to visit him, as he lay dying in the hospital at Putney. It was on one of those visits that there happened the incident of the taxi-cab number. Hardy had gone out to Putney by taxi, as usual his chosen method of conveyance. He went into the room where Ramanujan was lying. Hardy, always inept about introducing a conversation, said, probably without greeting, and certainly as his first remark: "The number of my taxi-cab was 1729. It seemed to me a rather dull number." To which Ramanujan replied, "No, Hardy! No, Hardy! It is a very interesting number. It is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways."

--C.P. Snow

My Vegetarian Conversion (Don't worry; this is not a frenetic rant on animal rights.)

Well as you know Bunn adopted us rather than the other way around, so I wasn't exactly prepared for him. I didn't know the first thing about bunnies, and it was a Sunday, so I couldn't reach my regular vet. I did a web search for "rabbit" and found a bunch of sites on how to breed rabbits to yield maximum meat production. I was like, "ooookaaaayyy..." So I tried a search under "bunny" and found the same thing. Would you believe it? You'd think that someone who'd call a rabbit a "bunny" wouldn't want to eat one! I found SO MANY sites that showed PHOTOGRAPHS of how to kill a rabbit and skin it with maximum efficiency. And they posted recipes. I even found a site that was "dedicated to all uses of rabbits, for fur, meat, and companionship!" CAN you imagine?!?!? I was horrified. But then I got to thinking...

I've never really believed that eating meat was evil. I mean, we have canine teeth in our mouths, we were meant to be omnivores. Animals eat one another. That is part of nature's way. I've always, always believed that as long as animals were treated well during their lifetimes, that it was okay to kill them humanely and eat them. So I bought free-range meat, eggs, and cheese, and lived happily like that...

But this whole thing with the rabbits... well if I were truly so comfortable with the idea of eating an animal that had had a good life, then I shouldn't be so horrified at the idea of hand-raising and loving a rabbit, and then eating it, right? But I was. I was deeply troubled.

So I took the wimpy way out. I decided, "Since these issues are too complicated for me to think about, I'll just not eat any meat any more. It's much easier than trying to think my way through all of it." It's the easy way of dealing with a complicated moral issue, but hey, it works for me! I've never really liked meat to begin with, so it's not like I'm constantly craving steaks and hamburgers. I'm still more an "economic" than a strict vegetarian. I try to think more in terms of economic impact than about the actual ingestion of meat. Like I'll try to eat someone's leftover meat dish if they're about to throw it away anyway, since my eating it won't have contributed to the killing of the animal. ("Try to" being the operative phrase, since sometimes the idea of eating meat at all just makes me yak.) But I won't buy even just some fries from McDonald's because I know that the corporation is set up in such a way that even their income from selling fries supports their raising and killing cows in an inhumane way. Or one time a restaurant messed up my order and brought me a hamburger instead of a veggie burger. I ate it because the damage was already done--if I had sent it back, they wouldn't have sold it to someone else; they would have thrown it away. So it was too late to prevent the little contribution to the meat industry, so I wasn't about to add the additional wrong of wasting food. Of course that was a while ago; now I don't know what I'd do since the idea of eating a beef patty makes me a bit squeamish. But anyway, that's how my peculiar breed of vegetarianism works.

A word from Kate:

I [just had a] weird moment as I pictured a steak on the bone, whole, floating around in Nitram's stomach like in a cartoon. It made me laugh and feel urk all at once. I'm trying to restrain myself right now from calling up the stairs, "Honey, you got a COW in your stomach!!" :-D Eeew. He ATE part of somebody, he's got someone's gristly muscle floating around in his belly in chunks! A cow said, "Mwoow!" as its throat was slashed as it hung upside down impaled on a meat hook, and someone cut off part of it and Nitram bought it and ATE IT!!!

urk urk urk

*ahem* sorry, I got carried away. Anyway, it's moments like that which keep me well-entrenched in veggie-land.

They're made of meat.

By Terry Bisson, who says, "From OMNI, April 1991. This story, which was a 1991 Nebula nominee, has been appearing around the internet lately without my name attached. Several people were kind enough to alert me, but the truth is I'm more flattered than offended."

"They're made out of meat."

"Meat?"

"Meat. They're made out of meat."

"Meat?"

"There's no doubt about it. We picked several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, probed them all the through. They're completely meat."

"That's impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars."

"They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don't come from them. The signals come from machines."

"So who made the machines? That's who we want to contact."

"They made the machines. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Meat made the machines."

"That's ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You're asking me to believe in sentient meat."

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in the sector and they're made out of meat."

"Maybe they're like the orfolei. You know, a carbon-based intelligence that goes through a meat stage."

"Nope. They're born meat and they die meat. We studied them for several of their life spans, which didn't take too long. Do you have any idea the life span of meat?"

"Spare me. Okay, maybe they're only part meat. You know, like the weddilei. A meat head with an electron plamsa brain inside."

"Nope. We thought of that, since they do have meat heads like the weddilei. But I told you, we probed them. They're meat all the way through."

"No brain?"

"Oh, there is a brain all right. It's just that the brain is made out of meat!"

"So... what does the thinking?"

"You're not understanding, are you? The brain does the thinking. The meat."

"Thinking meat! You're asking me to believe in thinking meat!"

"Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat. The meat is the whole deal! Are you getting the picture?"

"Omigod. You're serious then. They're made out of meat."

"Finally. Yes, they are indeed made out meat. And they've been trying to get in touch with us for almost a hundred of their years."

"So what does the meat have in mind?"

"First it wants to talk to us. Then I imagine it wants to explore the universe, contact other sentients, swap ideas and information. The usual."

"We're supposed to talk to meat?"

"That's the idea. That's the message they're sending out by radio. 'Hello. Anyone out there? Anyone home?' That sort of thing."

"They actually do talk, then. They use words, ideas, concepts?"

"Oh, yes. Except they do it with meat."

"I thought you just told me they used radio."

"They do, but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know how when you slap or flap meat it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat."

"Omigod. Singing meat. This is altogether too much. So what do you advise?"

"Officially or unofficially?"

"Both."

"Officially, we are required to contact, welcome, and log in any and all sentient races or multibeings in the quadrant, without prejudice, fear, or favor. Unofficially, I advise that we erase the records and forget the whole thing."

"I was hoping you would say that."

"It seems harsh, but there is a limit. Do we really want to make contact with meat?"

"I agree one hundred percent. What's there to say?" `Hello, meat. How's it going?' But will this work? How many planets are we dealing with here?"

"Just one. They can travel to other planets in special meat containers, but they can't live on them. And being meat, they only travel through C-space. which limits them to the speed of light and makes the possibility of their ever making contact pretty slim. Infinitesimal, in fact."

"So we just pretend there's no one home in the universe."

"That's it."

"Cruel. But you said it yourself, who wants to meet meat? And the ones who have been aboard our vessels, the ones you have probed? You're sure they won't remember?"

"They'll be considered crackpots if they do. We went into their heads and smoothed out their meat so that we're just a dream to them."

"A dream to meat! How strangely appropiate, that we should be meat's dream."

"And we can marked this sector unoccupied."

"Good. Agreed, officially and unofficially. Case closed. Any others? Anyone interested on that side of the galaxy?"

"Yes, a rather shy but sweet hydrogen core cluster intelligence in a class nine star in G445 zone. Was in contact two galactic rotation ago, wants to be friendly again."

"They always come around."

"And why not? Imagine how unbearably, how unutterably cold the universe would be if one were all alone."

This might be my favourite poem.

I was reminded of this a couple nights ago whilst scratching out drawings (hands were aching and was responding to a coworker's suggestion by saying "voice wreck ignition software? I'm not sure if idyll were query well..." And the line popped into my head, "where living is an idyll, although a probable hell" and a shiver went up my spine and I was prompted to look up the rest of the poem. It's lovelier than I remember.

Curiosity
may have killed the cat; more likely
the cat was just unlucky, or else curious
to see what death was like, having no cause
to go on licking paws or fathering
litter on litter of kittens, predictably.

Nevertheless, to be curious
is dangerous enough. To distrust
what is always said; what seems,
to ask odd questions, interfere in dreams,
leave home, smell rats, have hunches
does not endear him to those doggy circles
where well-smelt baskets, suitable wives, good lunches
are the order of things, and where prevails
much wagging of incurious heads and tails.

Face it. Curiosity
will not cause him to die --
only lack of it will.
Never to want to see
the other side of the hill,
or that improbable country
where living is an idyll
(although a probable hell)
would kill us all.
Only the curious
have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all.

Dogs say he loves too much, is irresponsible,
is changeable, marries too many wives,
deserts his children, chills over dinner tables
with tales of his nine lives.
Well, he is lucky. Let him be
nine-lived and contradictory,
curious enough to change, prepared to pay
the cat price, which is to die
and die again and again
each time with no less pain.
A cat minority of one
is all that can be counted on
to tell the truth. And what he has to tell
on each return from hell
is this: that dying is what the living do,
that dying is what the loving do
and that dead dogs are those who do not know
that that hell is where, to live, they have to go.

by Alastair Reid

But this is a top contender.

LaKate sent this to me.

Karma Repair Kit: Items 1 - 4

1. Get enough food to eat,
and eat it.

2. Find a place to sleep where it is quiet
and sleep there.

3. Reduce intellectual and emotional noise
until you arrive at the silence of yourself,
and listen to it.

4.

by Richard Brautigan

A Funny Thing

Okay, I know some people hate Britney Spears with a passion, but you gotta admit, this is pretty damn cool:

Britney's Guide to Semiconductor Physics

It is really technically solid too. At first I thought it was put up by a really cool prof for his students, but when I went to the parent site (www.britneyspears.ac), it was just another Britney fan site. I don't get it. *scratches head* Well it is pretty cool anyway.

A Few Rants

Okay, first--bunnies

How on earth did bunnies get the reputation for being cuddly and huggable? Too often people go to a pet store, fall in love with a cute little bunny, and bring it home. Of course when bunnies are babies is just about the only time that they are cuddly. Then they grow up, develop their natural bunny spunk (think Bugs), and people abandon them. Pet stores make a ton of money marketing these "cuddly" bunnies, and then the shelters are left to pick up the pieces later. Not to mention the bunnies probably came from mills to begin with! It is a sad, sad process, from beginning to end.

So I feel the need to shout, Bunnies are not for hugging! Bunnies do not like to be picked up or cuddled! So just what are bunnies good for? Why, entertainment of course! They love to run around in mad circles, and jump and twist and twirl, like little ballerinas. Give your bunny freedom from a cage. They are easily litterbox trained; we trained Bunn by scooping his poop and mopping up his pee, then putting the poop and pee-soaked paper towels in his litterbox. He figured out the rest on his own. And be patient. The first month only half the raisins will make it in the litterbox. The second month 3/4 will. And the third or fourth, all will! With not a word from you, the bunn will just do it! Amazing isn't it? Anyway free (within a few chew-proofed rooms) from the confines of a cage, bunns just go nuts! I can't even begin to explain... all I can say is, a daily dose of bunnymirth is a sure defense against the blues.

And in the night... okay I will confess to one thing... Bunnies can be darned affectionate. Rumor has it that some people can actually hug their bunnies, and mine actually follows me around the house, insisting on being at my side at all times. But remember that any bunny affection is given strictly on the bunny's terms!

If you're thinking of getting a bunn, please check out the links listed on the bottom of my Bunn's page, please consider adopting from a shelter instead of a pet store, and good luck!

Giggly Little Asian Girls

"Oh, I don't know. Teeheeheehee!"

What the hell is up with that? Under different circumstances I wouldn't mind that sort of behavior, but the problem is, those types of girls negatively affect my professional life. Most people start a relationship with a customer or a vendor with a clean slate. I must start all professional relationships with trying to convince people that yes, I am a real engineer, and yes, I do take my work seriously, and no, I do not worry about messing up my hair/clothes/etc to get in the cleanroom/manufacturing floor to make sure my work is carried out properly, and no, I do not expect to wriggle out of challenges by batting my eyelashes and giggling.

I do have one confession to make though. I will sometimes use the useless little Asian girl act to get help when I need it, but that is stricly outside of work, and only when I will have no further dealings with the person in question, so it doesn't matter what they think of me.

Kids who hit emotional puberty before physical puberty.

Can someone please make a rule that girls can't start wearing makeup, miniskirts, and heels until they are at least fifteen years old? Why are kids starting to become interested in sexual stuff at the age of twelve? At twelve, kids shouldn't be dressing to impress the opposite sex, and learning to flirt! They should be climbing trees and making mud pies!

So-called "Healthy Food" vs. Natural Food

I'm all about natural food but I despise "healthy" food. Have one pat of butter instead of a huge gob of margarine! Have a little dish of ice cream instead of a tub of fat-free, sugar-free "ice cream food product." Have one real egg instead of a heap of egg-substitute! I have this theory that things like butter, eggs, premium ice cream, etc, are bad for you if you eat gobs but still okay in moderation, because the bad things they contain, like saturated fat and cholesterol, are naturally-occuring compounds, and your body has mechanisms for dealing with them. But you eat some crap like partially hydrogenated oil, or margarine, or chemicals whose names are so long that they go by their initials, and your body goes, "What the hell is this?" Sure, it has no SATURATED FAT, but is it really BETTER FOR YOU? And anyway, real food TASTES better. Surely you'd rather have one rich, gooey, buttery cookie with real chocolate chips than a dozen fat-free, cholesterol-free little cardboard hockey pucks!

People who don't love Food

I hate to make generalizations but the main culprits here are giggly little Asian girls, people who are trying to lose weight, and businessmen.

Giggly little Asian girls think it is not feminine to eat. They think it is really cute to sit there, bat their eyelashes, pick at their food, and then declare themselves full. I think it is revolting. Oh my, how girlish, what dainty little appetites they have! Yeah, and what weak bones, and pale skin, and hollow eyes, and absent flesh. Ick.

Okay people who are trying to lose weight. I can accept these people a little bit more because at least they have a specific goal in mind and are merely working to reach it. But I also think that they are taking the entirely wrong approach. Want to lose weight? Fine, eat less. Have half your regular portion size, or whatever. But don't develop an anti-food complex and think that all food is a seductive poison whose temptation must be fought. If you're going to have a cookie, have a cookie, and enjoy every moist, buttery morsel. Don't eat it in secret and then be disgusted with yourself. Even seriously obese people should be able to enjoy a cookie.

Finally, businessmen. Ever seen a businessman at a company-sponsored lunch that has wonderful, gourmet food, but who just coughs it down like eating is nothing more than a chore, a concession that he has to make in order to keep on living? I just want to march up to them and say, "Hello! The fruits of the earth are before you! The least you can do is appreciate it!"

You know who I LOVE to eat with? People who close their eyes after they take a mouthful and go "mmmmmmmmmm!"

People who "can't afford" to take their pets to the vet

When you get a pet, the first thing you should ask yourself, IMHO, is, "Can I afford this responsibility, in terms of love, time, and money, all three?" If you do not have sufficient resources of any of these three components, you should not have pets!

I ranted on this topic on a pet rats board once and got flamed for supposedly implying that only wealthy people should have pets. No, no, that's not what I mean at all! My dear friend Rebecca explained this much more eloquently than I can:

"Does everyone deserve to have the unconditional love of a pet? Yes. [but] if your budget is so tight that your animal suffers because you can't or won't buy food, litter, vet visits, etc., should you have pets in that instance? I don't think so -- to me, even pets have certain inalienable rights: food, shelter, love, medical care..."

Thank you Rebecca!

Here I am with some of the loves of my life.

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